BBC withdraws Offending Article on Shankaracharya
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Among the English journals the most virulent attacks against Sri Jayendra Saraswathi came from Outlook magazine. The titles of some of the articles by Mr. S. Anand, Outlookâs correspondent in Chennai, are eloquently self-explanatory: âHow the Gods Fall,â âSwami and Fiendsâ (sic), âA Sting in the Tail,â âThe Baton Awaits,â âPrison Diaries of a Pontiff.â These articles are compilations almost exclusively of slanderous back alley innuendos, invariably attributed to vague police contacts and other faceless sources.
But Outlook did not stop there. The demonization of Sri Jayendra Saraswathi was to be internationalized on 28th January 2005 by no other than the editor of the magazine himself, Mr. Vinod Mehta. In a talk titled âA View from India,â the Outlook editor went on BBC Radio Four to inform English and European audiences about the âJayendra affair.â The talk was rebroadcast two days later, on Sunday 30th January, immediately after a program of Christian church services. To Hindus who happened to be listening to BBC Radio Four on that Sunday morning, the contrast between the dignified church services and the vicious slander heaped on one of their foremost religious leaders must have been excruciatingly painful.
Two days later the talk was published as an article on the BBC website with the title of âMurder, Mystery and Politics in India.â Straight away Mr. Mehta set the tone. âThe charges are a tabloid journalist"s dream - murder, sleaze, debauchery, greed and sex,â he said. The story he went on to recount was meant to illustrate each of these âcharges.â But it was overwhelmingly fictitious and certain crucial details stood in contradiction with the findings of the Supreme Court of India, made public some three weeks before Mr. Mehta delivered his talk on BBC Radio Four. His tabloid dream was of his own making.
The Outlook editor did not merely indulge in fibs. His entire article was a colossal lie - by omission. On granting bail to the Shankaracharya on 10th January 2005, the Supreme Court had stated that the Tamil Nadu authorities and police had failed to submit the least prima facie evidence connecting the Pontiff to the Sankararaman killing; they had also been unable to submit any grounds of motive for the Shankaracharya to commit such an act. But Mr. Mehta passed over the Supreme Court findings as if they had never existed. The reason is obvious: the pronouncements of the Apex Court would have demolished his viciously fictitious story.
Immediately devotees of the Shankaracharya throughout the world began writing letters of complaint to the BBC. After some seven months of repeated complaints the BBC Editorial Complaints Unit authorities admitted that Mr. Mehtaâs text contained âserious error and inaccuracies.â They tacitly acknowledged that apart from the alleged conspiracy to murder, none of the âchargesâ mentioned by Mr. Mehta were to be found in the charge sheet. On being questioned about the matter, Mr. Mehta had apparently told them that the charges of personal misconduct were listed not in the charge sheet but in the FIR (First Information Report), filed by the police shortly after the Pontiffâs arrest â another lie.
The BBC remained adamant about keeping the offensive article on their website, purged of the âerrors and inaccuracies.â Thanks to www.kanchiforum.org, the devotees of the Shankaracharya organized themselves and engaged lawyers in London. <b>Finally, the threat of legal action compelled the BBC to remove the article, apologize and reimburse the greater part of the legal costs incurred by the Acharyaâs devotees.</b>
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Is this issue completely forgotten ? JJ has hit the campaign trail - has she been mentioning this episode at all ? What kind of alliances seem probable in the coming elections ?
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>We won't foist cases against Kanchi seers: DMK</b>
T S SREENIVASA RAGHAVAN
[ Saturday, May 13, 2006 12:25:13 amTIMES NEWS NETWORK ]
timesofindia.indiatimes.c...528026.cms
CHENNAI: Senior Kanchi seer Jayendra Saraswathi and his junior Vijayendra Saraswathi can now breath easy, with DMK deciding not to follow the "repressive" policies of the Jayalalitha government.
DMK spokesman P K S Elangovan told TOI: "We're not for confrontation. Like in the past, ours will be a people-friendly government."
On whether the cases against the seers would be withdrawn, he said, "The matter is sub-judice. Charges have been framed. I don't know if the cases could be withdrawn at this stage. The DMK government would want the law to take its course."
"We, however, won't foist cases against seers and we also won't pursue cases filed against them at higher judicial forums if they are acquitted by lower courts. Unlike Jayalalithaa, we won't do anything that would victimise the seers," Elangovan said.
However, Kanchi Mutt's counsel K S Dinakaran said there was nothing that prevents the incumbent DMK government from withdrawing the cases.
'After holding investigations, if it is found somebody has been falsely implicated, the public prosecutor, in the larger interest of justice, can withdraw the cases by invoking the provisions of Section 321 of CrPc," Dinakaran said <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
After the eclipse of Amma as a result of the recent elections , IAS and IPS officers are thronging the functions attended by the seers. It is evident that they have got over their apprehensions of being found out in the 'enemy's' camp!
The Junior Seer inaugurated the launching of a TV channel devoted exclusively for Hindus called INDU TV on the 18th. It is likely to be aired from the first of June.
There are reports of unusually large crowds attending the function which included many serving and retired officials. 'There was 'standing room only' says a report.
<!--QuoteBegin-Mudy+May 19 2006, 10:21 PM-->QUOTE(Mudy @ May 19 2006, 10:21 PM)<!--QuoteEBegin--><!--QuoteBegin--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The Tides seem to be turning for the Acharyas !<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Controversial Superintendent of Police, Prem Kumar, who headed the SIT that framed charges against the Acharyas' was suspended on Friday on a complaint from Ravi Subramaniam, who had earlier turned 'approver'
Nemesis has ways of catching up with people who 'frame' charges !
<b>Jaya flays DMK's decision over officers' suspension</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Premkumar had arrested the Kanchi seer, Jayendra Saraswati in connection with the September 2004 murder of temple manager Shankararaman. The official was suspended for allegedly threatening a witness in the same case.
Marimuthu was investigating the May 2003 murder of former DMK Minister T Kiruttinan. Among the several arrested in this case was MK Azhagiri, son of Chief Minister M Karunanidhi and then senior leader of the party.
"Karunanidhi, who heads a minority government has renounced his known rationalist position, and has pledged his party at the Kanchipuram Math headed by Jayendra Saraswati," Jayalalitha said.
<b>"The minority government of Tamil Nadu is bent upon derailing the cases against the Shankaracharyas and MK Azhagiri due to ulterior motives. The very fact that Ko Si Mani (a Tamil Nadu minister) held discussions with Jayendra Saraswati soon after the minority government came to power shows that Karunanidhi wants the accused in both the cases to go scot-free,"</b> she added.
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I guess somebody wants Jayendra and Vijayendra Saraswati's bail to be revoked. showing that the other accused's lives in danger can get the court to relook the bail issue.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Sankararaman murder case accused attacked
PTI
Wednesday, December 06, 2006Â 14:01 IST
CHENNAI: Meenakshi Sundaram, an accused in the September 2004 Sankararaman murder case involving Kanchi Sankaracharya Jayendra Saraswathi, was attacked by some unidentified persons near his residence.
Meenakshi Sundaram, who is among the 24 accused in the case, was attacked last night and had been admitted to a hospital with injuries in his head and neck, police said on Wednesday.
Though his injuries were not life threatening, he underwent a minor surgery last night.
He was arrested in April, 2005 and released on bail in June. The Kanchi seer is the main accused in the case. Police were on the look out for culprits.
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<!--QuoteBegin-Mudy+Dec 6 2006, 11:34 PM-->QUOTE(Mudy @ Dec 6 2006, 11:34 PM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->Link
Please provide summary of this news article.
Thanks in advance.
[right][snapback]61782[/snapback][/right]
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Shankararaman-culprit cut with Aruval (machete)
In the shakararaman case, meenakshi sundaram, who arranged for rowdies to falsely surrender after claiming to have killed sankararaman, was hurt by unidentified persons. He has been admitted to hospital and is in critical situation.
In the sensational shankararaman case, when the police were struggling for clues, some people surrendered in a chennai court claiming to have killed shankararaman. But police, after some investigation found that these people had nothing to do with the muder.
Meenakshi sundaram was arrested for arranging this fake surrender. His house is in MGR (nagar) 31st street in chennai. While he was walking in the market near his house, he was surrounded by a group of 10 people. The group then attacked meenakshi sundaram with aruval and he fell into a pool of blood.
After getting this news of attack, his wife chellammal came to the scene and with the help of people nearby, took him to the govt General hospital, where he was admitted to ER.
The doctors said Meenakshi sundaram's situation is critical. This incident has caused a flutter. The MGR nagar police is searching for the group that attacked him.
Meenakshi sundaram is required to appear before the sessions court in pondichery that where the case is pending.
The MGR nagar police, in its investigation has determined that meenakshi sundaram might have been attacked due to a dispute in the distribution of the money paid for the sankararaman murder.
A similar attempt was made on meenakshi sundaram's life in march of this year. In that connection 9 people were arrested. Of the 9, 2 have come out on bail. It is believed that these two might have arranged for the attack on meenakshi sundaram.
It is important to note that the main accused in sankararaman case, appu was released on bail in high court only recently with the condition that he would stay in krishnagiri.
Op-Ed inPioneer by Balbir Punj
Date: 26 jan., 2007
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->DMK'S return to divinity
Balbir K Punj
The recent event in Chennai where Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK chief M Karunanidhi welcomed Sathya Sai Baba, whom millions worship as god, at his residence along with his family members, including Union Minister Dayanidhi Maran, his grand nephew, is interesting in many ways. Later, the DMK chief also participated in the public reception given to the Baba along with several important personalities.
First, a little backgrounder to the DMK and the Dravida movement is necessary. <b>The founder of the Dravidar Kazhagam, EV Ramaswami Naicker, was not only a "rationalist" but also a self-confessed anti-Brahmin.</b> In the 1920s, Naicker protested against the monopoly of the sinews of Government and economy by the "upper castes", especially the Brahmins.<b> He targeted both Brahmins and the Hindu beliefs which, according to him, kept others backward. He also targeted the culture of Sanskrit that he saw as abetting the exclusion of other castes from power.
Naicker promoted the ancient Tamil language as opposed to Sanskrit and blamed Brahmins for giving Tamil a subsidiary status</b>. Such anti-Brahminism led him to oppose religion and claim that God was an invention of Brahmins to suppress others - just like Karl Marx who claimed that religion was the opiate of the masses. To emphasise this, Naicker and his followers would periodically organise events where Hindu idols would be beaten by shoes in public.
As the influence of Tamil films on the people of the State rose and many prominent film personalities turned DK protagonists, the movement came to be closely linked to the entertainment industry. Annadurai was the most prominent among them, as also Mr Karunanidhi who was earlier a leading scriptwriter for Tamil movies. MG Ramachandran was yet another. But he was as an actor while the other two were leading scriptwriters. <b>Adding more socialist and egalitarian spice to the DK movement, Annadurai and others broke out from the Naicker group when the latter married a woman decades younger than him.</b>
<b>The DMK used to claim initially that Tamil Nadu should secede from India. In 1967, however, under the influence of C Rajagopalachari, it gave up its separatist agenda and opened a new anti-Congress front in the State. For the first time, the DMK was voted to power in alliance with Rajaji's Swatantra Party. Thereafter, the Congress has never tasted power in Tamil Nadu where Governments alternated between the DMK and the ADMK. Interestingly, the anti-Brahmin movement had to seek alliance with a staunch believer and Brahmin like Rajaji to ascend to power.</b>
In the last 30 years, the DMK has mellowed and matured with time to drop its separatist agenda besides getting rid of its atheism. <b>The ADMK, especially after Ms J Jayalalithaa became its leader, has been openly pro-religion as the Puratchi Thalaivi visited well-known pilgrim centres.</b> The DMK leaders have been more circumspect. Union Minister TR Balu had not so long ago derided Hinduism, but the party leader and his family members have virtually given up such anti-religious posturing.
When Sathya Sai Baba visited Chennai, there was a report that Mr Karunanidhi's wife bowed before him; so did all his other relatives. It is well known in Chennai that she used to visit temples regularly when Mr Karunanidhi was afflicted with an eye ailment and that once or twice the DMK leader too was seen accompanying her. It is said that when asked about the temple visits, the DMK chief justified the act by saying he didn't want to oppose his wife's faith. After all, "rationalism" need not necessarily mean atheism! At least grandnephew Maran was not apologetic about receiving Sathya Sai Baba's blessing in the form of a gold ring.
Call it the maturing of people in a democracy or the broad outlook of Hinduism, several other instances of avowed "rationalists" coming to terms with divinity are found in recent times - as in the past. <b>Many a great man started as a rationalist to end up as deeply religious. Aldous Huxley is one of the most famous in this respect and his book, Perennial Philosophy, makes great reading about his transformation.</b>
<b>Adi Shankaracharya based his entire advaitic discourse on rationality. In Bhagwad Gita, Lord Krishna advises Arjuna to carefully consider his lessons in totality and, using his rational faculty, choose the one that he considers right. The maturing of the DMK leadership may probably be a demonstration of the wisdom of the Shankaracharya and the Hindu philosophic ascent from unbelief to belief, from "rationalism" to the acceptance of the divine.</b> How can Mr Karunanidhi, with his pulse on the people, be an exception to this national stream!
<i>{Also makes sense that Pope benedict is now talking of Faith with Reason!}</i>
<b>There is, however, one more aspect that has much wider implications. Mr Karunanidhi, as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, also thanked the Baba for the donation of Rs 200 crore from his trust for the completion of the long-pending Krishna canal that brought drinking water to the parched Chennai city. Water for the canal was negotiated with the Andhra Pradesh Government 25 years ago when NT Rama Rao was the Chief Minister of that State.</b>
But subsequently, Andhra demurred. It was the intercession of the Baba, it is believed, that made the canal functional. With many a river water dispute hanging fire for decades, this resolution was nothing short of a miracle. Only a religious personality could have brought about the change in the heart of the Andhra Pradesh Government.
Last Tuesday's newspapers reported another miracle: The saintly Morari Bapu persuaded some fishermen of Saurashtra to free a priced whale, which could have fetched them at least a lakh of rupees, that had got stuck in their net. These very fishermen were once infamous for butchering about 250 whales every year and the authorities were unable to stop them despite the official ban. What the law couldn't do, the preacher achieved with his passion for the respect of creatures. After he blessed one such whale, the fishermen have stopped killing the species.
Whether Mr Karunanidhi has learnt of this incident Gujarat or not, it is possible that in the episode of Baba's intervention in the issue of water sharing for Chennai, he has realised what religion can do where law fails. Alfred Tennyson said, "More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of." Morari Bapu, Sathya Sai Baba and hundreds of other saintly figures continue to silently touch the hearts and minds across the country in a way that "rationalists" cannot fathom.
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Naicker promoted the ancient Tamil language as opposed to Sanskrit and blamed Brahmins for giving Tamil a subsidiary status.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Wrong, the b@st@rd called Tamizh a barbaric language and only started speaking in its favour when the gov't wanted Hindi to be made the national language,.
    The State government has dismissed the Superintendent of Police Premkumar on charges of compelling Ravi Subramaniam, approver in the case relating to the murder of Kancheepuram Varadaraja Perumal Temple manager Sankararaman to escape from police custody.
     It may be noted that during the previous AIADMK regime, Premkumar was the Kancheepuram Superintendent of Police and was entrusted with the job of investigating the case after Sankararaman was found murdered inside the the Varadaraja Perumal Temple.
    Premkumar hogged the headlines for arresting the Kanchi Seers Sri Jayendra Saraswathi Swami and Sri Vijayendra Saraswathi Swami in connection with the murder on 11 November, 2004 (on Deepavali festival) at Mehboob Nagar in Andhra Pradesh where they (Seers) were then camping. He was also pulled up for intimidating journalists during the investigation process.
    A Chennai contractor Ravi Subramaniam, who was arrested in connection with case, later turned approver. After the DMK returned to power in May 2006, Premkumar reportedly called on Ravi Subramaniam, who was undergoing treatment at a hospital and reportedly urged him to make good an escape.
    As the news spread, Premkumar was suspended from service.
    A team headed by Inspector General of Police G Uma Ganapathy Sastri was appointed to investigate the matter. Meanwhile, Premkumar filed a petition in the Madras High Court seeking a stay on the enquiry.
    Subsequently, Premkumar was sentenced to undergo a day's imprisonment in connection with a case relating to harassment of an ex-serviceman. An arrest warrant was also issued against him. Later, Premkumar surrendered in court.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<b>Court frames charges against Kanchi seer</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The Kanchi seer is accused of masterminding the assault on the former auditor of the math, G Radhakrishnan for threatening to expose the alleged murky happenings in the math. According to the police, at the behest of the Acharya, hirelings of gangster Appu attacked Radhakrishnan, his wife and an attendant with sharp weapons at his residence in Chennai on September 20, 2002.
<b>First additional sessions judge Mohamed Issath Ali framed charges </b>under Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 307 (attempt to murder) and 109 (abetment) of the Indian Penal Code against Jayendra Saraswati, Kanchi Mutt manager Sundaresa Iyer, Raghu (younger brother of junior Acharya Vijayendra Saraswathi) gangster Appu and hirelings Kathiravan, Meenakshisundaram, Anand, Lakshmanan, Bhoominathan, Kannan and Kumar.
Kanchi math building contractor Ravi Subramaniam has been cited as an approver. Jayendra Saraswathi and other accused were present in the court when the charges were framed. The police had fileda 600-page charge-sheet in June last year. Investigation into the case had made little progress till the arrest of the seer in November 12, 2004 for the murder of Kancheepuram Varadaraja Perumal temple manager Sankararaman inside the temple premises on September 4, 2004. Sankararaman too had threatened to expose the goings on inside the math and had also sent anonymous letters to Jayendra Sqraswati<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
10-10-2007, 01:59 PM (This post was last modified: 10-10-2007, 02:05 PM by Husky.)
<!--QuoteBegin-Mudy+Jul 23 2007, 07:59 PM-->QUOTE(Mudy @ Jul 23 2007, 07:59 PM)<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Court frames charges against Kanchi seer</b><!--QuoteBegin--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The Kanchi seer is accused of masterminding the assault on the former auditor of the math, G Radhakrishnan for threatening to expose the alleged murky happenings in the math. According to the police, at the behest of the Acharya, hirelings of gangster Appu attacked Radhakrishnan, his wife and an attendant with sharp weapons at his residence in Chennai on September 20, 2002.
<b>First additional sessions judge Mohamed Issath Ali framed charges </b>under Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 307 (attempt to murder) and 109 (abetment) of the Indian Penal Code against Jayendra Saraswati, Kanchi Mutt manager Sundaresa Iyer, Raghu (younger brother of junior Acharya Vijayendra Saraswathi) gangster Appu and hirelings Kathiravan, Meenakshisundaram, Anand, Lakshmanan, Bhoominathan, Kannan and Kumar.
Kanchi math building contractor Ravi Subramaniam has been cited as an approver. Jayendra Saraswathi and other accused were present in the court when the charges were framed. The police had fileda 600-page charge-sheet in June last year. Investigation into the case had made little progress till the arrest of the seer in November 12, 2004 for the murder of Kancheepuram Varadaraja Perumal temple manager Sankararaman inside the temple premises on September 4, 2004. Sankararaman too had threatened to expose the goings on inside the math and had also sent anonymous letters to Jayendra Sqraswati<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
[right][snapback]71474[/snapback][/right]<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->I totally missed that.
This:
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->According to the police, at the behest of the Acharya, hirelings of gangster Appu attacked Radhakrishnan<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->Is that the same <b>christo</b> police that tortured the Shankaracharya and refused to give him fruit to eat as he asked for; instead they tried to force him to eat meat (knowing full-well he's a strict vegetarian)?
The same police that had earlier dumped him in a snake-infested jail where no one else was locked up in? http://sankaracharyaarticles.blogspot.com/...s-reported.html
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Wednesday, December 15, 2004
Â
Alarming jail conditions reported
From http://www.kanchi-sathya.org/tidbits.htm
His Holiness kept in snake infested cell
Reference: News report in page 13, right hand top side two columns of Dinamalar, 15.12.04 Chennai Edition. (sorry no weblink on dinamalar.com given)
âLiving in the midst of snakesâ
Vellore , Dec 14:
JAYENDRAR HAS BEEN LIVING IN THE MIDST OF SNAKES.
Jayendrar, arrested in the case of murder of Sankaraman, has been jailed in the males section of Vellore Central Jail.
The C Block in which Jayendrar is lodged in a secluded place. Near this a drainage runs. The C Block was vacant for quite some months. This was cleaned in a hurry on arrival of Jayendrar.
The prison wardens report that because of the drainage surrounding the cell and because of the jungle like thorny bush around the cell this place is infested with snakes. <b>Reports say that snakes are found even in the day time and in the night it is worst.
There are six rooms in this cell. All the other rooms except that of Jayendrar
are vacant. A cobra of 5 feet length was spotted a few days back in the room adjacent to that of Jayendrar.</b>
This was spotted by the night wardens and they called others who killed the snake. It was buried there itself on the orders of authorities.
There are a lot of snakes around the cell and the wardens are worried that Jayendrar is staying amongst the snakes.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->They'd purposely put the Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswati in the cell that they wouldn't even put regular criminals in.
But it doesn't appear to have any information on that more recent case you posted on, Mudy.
Do you have any news on how he is now? Has he been cleared, is he free or on bail or are the christians among the police torturing him in prison yet again?
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Mudy.
Do you have any news on how he is now? Has he been cleared, is he free or on bail or are the christians among the police torturing him in prison yet again?<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Not cleared, lot of bogus case are pending on him.
Police officer who was involved in whole case is not suspended because of unrelated corruption incidence. So in TN, one has to deal with corrupt Cm, Police, Court and what not.
08-11-2009, 10:49 AM (This post was last modified: 08-11-2009, 10:51 AM by shamu.)
Kanchi case evidences are falling apart
On April 3rd: One more witness turns hostile in Sankararaman murder case
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Puducherry, Apr 3: One more prosecution witness in the Sankararaman murder case, in which Kanchi Sankaracharya Jayendra Saraswathi is the main accused, turned hostile during the trial in a court here today.
<b>N Kumar, working in a shop of pooja materials at the Kancheepuram Sri Varadarajaperumal temple of which Sankararaman was the Manager, contradicted the statements he had made before the police during investigations in 2004.</b>
He is the second prosecution witness to turn hostile after Duraikannu, a temple staff, examined yesterday. <i>{This person also has turned hostile. Check next report}</i>
Sankararaman was murdered in the temple premises on September 3, 2004 by a gang. Jayendra Saraswathi and his junior Vijayendra Saraswathi, who are among the 24 accused in the case, have been charged with conspiracy and murder.
Trial in the case commenced yesterday in the court of Principal and District Sessions Judge when five witnesses were examined by special public prosecutor N Devadoss. The case was transferred here by the Supreme Court on a plea by the seer.
Devadoss today examined four more witnesses when Kumar turned hostile. He then cross examined Kumar. Others examined today are M Kuppusamy, S Gajapathy and Atchudhan, all employees of the Varadrajaperumal temple.
The prosecution had yesterday examined Padma (wife of Sankararaman), Uma Maitreyi (his daughter), Anand Sharma (his son), Ganesan and Duraikannu (temple staff).
The judge fixed April 28 as the day for cross examination of Padma, her son and daughter, while the remaining six witnesses would be cross examined on April 29. - Agencies <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<b>Trail of witnesses who have turned hostile lengthens </b>
PUDUCHERRY: Two main prosecution witnesses in the Sankararaman murder case on Tuesday contradicted their earlier statements during cross-examination by defence counsel.
<b>Sankararamanâs wife Padma, the first prosecution witness, and daughter Uma Maitreyi, the second prosecution witness, told the Principal District and Sessions court here that they had identified the accused based only on photographs provided by the police and had not seen them during the attack on Sankararaman. They also told the court that the signature in the documents seized from their house was not that of Sankararaman.</b>
<b>During cross-examination by counsel K. S Dinakaran, both contradicted their statements made earlier to Special Public Prosecutor N. Devadass.</b> Two other witnesses, Anand Kumar Sharma (Sankararamanâs son) and N. S Ganesh (accountant in the temple) were also cross-examined.
<b>On April 2, 2009, during examination by the Public Prosecutor, the fifth prosecution witness K. Durai Kannu contradicted the statement he had made before the police and the Kancheepuram District Magistrate</b>. After he deviated from his statement, Mr. Devadass had informed Principal District and Sessions Judge D. Krishnaraja that he was treating the witness as hostile. Another prosecution witness, Kumar, was also treated as hostile after he contradicted his statement during examination by the Special Public Prosecutor.
On Wednesday, the cross-examination of five other witnesses, K. Durai Kannu, Gajapathay, Atchudan, Kumar and Kuppuswamy, will be taken up. The Public Prosecutor will also cross-examine K. Durai Kannu.
Sankararaman, manager of the Sri Varadarajaswami temple at Kancheepuram, was murdered on September 3, 2004. On January 21, 2005, a special investigation team of the Tamil Nadu Police filed a charge-sheet in a Kancheepuram court naming 24 persons as the accused in the case, including the five men who surrendered claiming that they had murdered Sankararaman and six others who arranged the proxy surrender. The case was later transferred to Puducherry.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<b>More witnesses turn hostile in Acharyaâs case in Puduchery</b>
September 10, 2009 by janamejayan
Published by: Noor Khan
Published: Wed, 09 Sep 2009 at 17:08 IST
Puducherry: Two of six witnesses on trial in the Sankararaman murder case, in which Kanchi Seer Jayendra Saraswathi and his junior Vijayendra Saraswathi are the main accused, turned hostile today.
With this, four witnesses have so far turned hostile in the case.
Sankararaman, the Manager of Sri Varadarajaperumal temple in Kancheepuram, was allegedly murdered in the temple premises on September 3, 2004.
Only 14 of the 24 accused were present in court when the case came up for hearing today before Principal and District Sessions Judge D Krishnaraja. The two Seers were among those absent. They have been charged under sections 120(B) (conspiracy) and 302 (murder) of IPC.
The two witnesses, employees of a shop near the temple told Special Public Prosecutor N Devadoss that they had not seen the accused who had fled the scene after the crime.
Bhaskaran said he was not on duty on Sept 3 afternoon. He claimed to have signed only blank papers and denied having told police that he had seen three men rushing out of the temple with sharp weapons.
Natarajan said he had only heard people speaking of someone having been murdered in the temple and that he had not seen any photos on the blank papers he signed.
Following this, the SPP declared both of them hostile.
Devadoss later told reporters that 10 more witnesses would be examined tomorrow.
Sept 10 2009
One of the five witnesses on trial in the Sankararaman murder case, in which Kanchi seer Jayendra Saraswati and his junior Vijendra Saraswathi are the main accused, turned hostile on Thursday.
With this, five witnesses have so far turned hostile in the case.
Sankararaman, manager of Varadarajaperumal temple in Kancheepuram, was allegedly murdered on the premises of the temple on September 3, 2004.
Only 14 of the 24 accused were present when the hearing resumed today before the Principal District and Sessions Judge D. Krishnaraja. The absentees included the two Seers, who have been charged under sections 120 (B) (conspiracy) and 302 (murder).
During cross examination by Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) N. Devadoss, the witness âBombayâ Krishnan denied having made any statement to the police and the magistrate at Uthiramerur in Kancheepuram district earlier.
Krishnan said he had signed the statement âwhich was kept readyâ and signed it when asked to do so. The SPP then declared him hostile.
The other witnesses examined today were an advocate from Kancheepuram, another person in charge of a private courier service office in Kancheepuram and two Sanskrit pundits from Chennai and Kancheepuram.
The Judge adjourned further proceedings in the hearing to October 15 and 16. The SPP later told reporters that 19 witnesses would be examined on these two days.
Source: Kanchiforum.org
